Nehemiah 7:1
in Nehemiah 7When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
KJV
Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
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This verse in Nehemiah 7
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Since the watch of the temple had hitherto been kept by porters, singers, and Levites 1 Chr. 26:1-19, so now the watch of the entire city was committed to men of the same three classes, their experience pointing them out as the most suitable persons.
This site's exposition
When the wall had been rebuilt
on Nehemiah 7:1-2
The first act after the doors are set is to appoint "the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites." Nehemiah puts the city in the hands of Hananiah, because "he was a faithful man who feared God more than most" (7:2). Character decides, ahead of rank, who guards a rebuilt Jerusalem.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
But after the wall was built, etc. And in a spiritual sense, wherever the wall of the Church may be built, gathering new peoples to the faith, or correcting those who have strayed, immediately the gates of regular discipline should be set up, so that …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): These are the children of the province, &c. Two things are here repeated and recorded a second time from thence--the names and numbers of their several families, and their oblations to the service of the temple.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors,.... Which was not done when Sanballat sent his first letter, but now was, Neh 6:1, and the porters and the singers, and the Levites were appointed; not to attend the doors of the gates of the wall, but to return to their service in the temple, who had been employed in one thing or another, while the wall and gates were building and repairing; see Neh 3:17.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
were appointed The Levites were now made appointees over their stations to be gatekeepers and singers in the Temple.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֗י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר | kaasher | just when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִבְנְתָה֙ | nivnetah | it had been rebuilt | H1129 → | 376 times |
| הַחוֹמָ֔ה | hachomah | the wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
| וָאַעֲמִ֖יד | vaaamid | and I had set up | H5975 → | 521 times |
| הַדְּלָת֑וֹת | hadelatot | the doors | H1817 → | 88 times |
| וַיִּפָּֽקְד֛וּ | vaiyipakedu | and they had been appointed | H6485 → | |
| הַשּׁוֹעֲרִ֥ים | hashoarim | the gatekeepers | H7778 → | 37 times |
| וְהַמְשֹׁרְרִ֖ים | vehamshorerim | and the singers | H7891 → | 86 times |
| וְהַלְוִיִּֽם׃ | vehalviyim | and the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
וַיְהִ֗יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רjust when
kaasherH834 →5497 times
נִבְנְתָה֙it had been rebuilt
nivnetahH1129 →376 times
הַחוֹמָ֔הthe wall
hachomahH2346 →133 times
וָאַעֲמִ֖ידand I had set up
vaaamidH5975 →521 times
הַדְּלָת֑וֹתthe doors
hadelatotH1817 →88 times
וַיִּפָּֽקְד֛וּand they had been appointed
vaiyipakeduH6485 →
הַשּׁוֹעֲרִ֥יםthe gatekeepers
hashoarimH7778 →37 times
וְהַמְשֹׁרְרִ֖יםand the singers
vehamshorerimH7891 →86 times
וְהַלְוִיִּֽם׃and the Levites
vehalviyimH3881 →291 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 6:1When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 2:19
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the…
- Nehemiah 2:10
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.
- Nehemiah 4:1
Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews
- Nehemiah 3:3
The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
- Nehemiah 4:6–7
So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
- Nehemiah 2:19
Through
Nehemiah 6:15So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 4:1–2
Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews
- Psalms 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Ezra 6:15
And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
- Nehemiah 4:1–2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.